Cameron Silver stands nearby with one of his Cheshire grins, the kind that appears on the popular boy in the schoolyard when the girls are debating his assets. Except the assets that have the women before Silver engaged in tales of one-upmanship are the coveted fashion pieces from the recently expanded and renovated Decadestwo, the designer resale store Silver co-owns with Christos Garkinos, as well as the vintage finds they bagged upstairs at Silver's original salon, Decades. "This is one of my first buys from Cameron," boasts actress Tracee Ellis Ross of her olive-color jumpsuit designed by Sheridan Barnett for Quorum in the early 1970s.

Fellow actress Shiva Rose McDermott, Lady Caroline Butler, Texas socialite Becca Cason Thrash, designer Brigette Ro­ma­nek, couture collector Susan Casden, and Hollywood stylist Jeanne Yang are among the friends gathered at Silver's home. A historical address built by modernist icon R.M. Schindler that Silver spent more than a year restoring, it's filled with tokens of his fashionable life: an antiques shop sign spelling out my sin—lanvin for the Paris house's scent of that name; a smattering of the vintage Hermès desk accessories he obsessively collects. "I think of fashion as art. I'm not about disposable shopping. Even my daywear is glamour," Silver muses, an observation that applies equally to his shops' stock and his own wardrobe. He's always nattily turned out in offbeat Vivienne Westwood suits and the sharp bespoke suits of Jack Taylor—an institution of his native Beverly Hills, where Silver grew up around women who prized their James Galanos and Rudi Gernreich pieces, which he would later collect while on tour as a cabaret singer. A decade ago, when he was tired of the road and just about to release an album of Weimar-era standards, Silver decided to parlay his hobby into a full-time career.

But even this evolved into another showcase for a lifestyle that movies are made of. "Every day is theater," says Garkinos, who expanded the business when he added the contemporary resale store Decadestwo in 1999 on the first level of the chocolate-color art deco building on Melrose Avenue. Until then, Garkinos had spent much of his twenties opening Disney flagship stores in Europe, then Virgin Megastores. Like Silver, whom he met on a blind date (the two quickly realized they would make better business partners), Garkinos cuts a lithe, handsome profile in skinny sharkskin Gucci and Alexander McQueen. "Fashion is such a language. Every day it's putting on a show," he says.

On the menu tonight at chez Silver are "seven sensualities," from farmed caviar to sweet granadilla, a spread under the stars in homage to the night's guest of honor, Frenchman and chef de cave Richard Geoffroy. Before the last case of Dom Pérignon Vintage Blanc 1999 is emptied, Rachel Griffiths sneaks in. She and everyone else around the expansive outdoor dining table are game for yet another toast: Griffiths had just that morning received an Emmy nomination for the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters. The actress later tells why her relationship with the Decades duo has gone beyond that of shopkeepers and red-carpet star: "They straight-out have immaculate taste. I have this great Halston caftan—they had a book with Anjelica Huston in it in 1972. I just feel so good in that dress. The boys have done a lot to take the mothballs and shame out of wearing pre-owned clothes and accessories."

Decades isn't the only vintage temple to make L.A. the international leader in haute recycled goods—Resurrection, Catwalk, The Way We Wore, The Paper Bag Princess, and Lily et Cie are required stops for vintagephiles. But Decades and its downstairs sibling lead the pack. In fact, Silver and Garkinos could be said to have changed the way women in L.A. dress. "Now that it's not unusual to see a 50-year-old businessman or woman in distressed jeans and an ironic T-shirt, it's actually the three-piece suit and an A-line dress and heels that have become rebellious," notes Tara Sandroni Hirshberg, who is among the city's fashion standouts due to her insane clothes cache. "For L.A. women, it's really the return of the outfit, where it's a little more thought-out, a little less thrown on and casual." She should know. One half of the respected Sandroni Rey gallery, a leader in the rocketing California art scene, the mother of two is also a Decadestwo addict—and consigner.

Silver and Garkinos' knack for plucking a forgotten designer or a ready-for-revival trend or piece from obscurity means fashion houses, celebrity stylists, and costume designers look to them for direction. "There are no other stores in
L.A. I look forward to shopping at more than Decadestwo—maybe Decades for something really special," says Rachel Roy, who spent a recent visit from New York rifling through its new arrivals. "I really appreciate that everyone here encourages women to take a chance by looking different."

Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquière infamously found "inspiration" in a metallic patchwork vest by Kaisik Wong just as Silver rescued the 1970s San Francisco visionary from obscurity by putting the piece on display at his store and
including it in a group show that he helped organize at the Oakland Museum of California. Even Tom Ford–designed YSL and Gucci are making a bit of a comeback at Decadestwo, having become a destination for Ford himself, who a few months back bought a Gucci tissue-chiffon chinoiserie of his own design that Garkinos found in actress Natasha Gregson Wagner's closet. The store, specializing in designer pieces from recent years—much of it schlepped in by fashion designers, supermodels, and clotheshorses—nearly doubled to 3,000 square feet this summer to accommodate all the new items, like Rochas gowns, Rick Owens jackets, Chanel suits, Louboutin heels, and Vuitton bags. The reopening celebration, held two nights before Silver's dinner and which migrated from the rechristened store to a late madcap at Social Hollywood, drew a legion of shop regulars—Ali Larter, Jared Leto, China Chow, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Joely Richardson and her cool 15-year-old daughter, Daisy, and stylist Christina Ehrlich. "They've had a huge influence on L.A. style," Ross enthuses. "What I missed about New York when I came to
L.A. was dressing up. But that's all changed, and seriously, these guys have something to do with it. They run the pack of fashion enthusiasts here with their stores and their amazing taste, and it goes well beyond the red carpet."

Garkinos also co-owns a men's lifestyle shop right up the street called Alpha, a fave among Hollywood agents and their boldface clients. "It really comes down to making people feel good about themselves," observes Garkinos, who cites his elegant parents and their Greek restaurant in Michigan for the way he dresses and conducts the stores. "We don't worry about trends," Garkinos continues, "but about how a great piece will make someone look and feel."

Silver is often seen leading a fab-looking posse at the L.A. Opera or the Museum of Contemporary Art. As a sign of his own influence these days, he is receiving the highest accolade imaginable of any style icon: Hermès has asked him to design a bag for the venerable house. And Silver manages to consult for a handful of luxe brands, including Pringle, Boucheron, and Samsonite. His collaborative positioning of Azzaro with designer Vanessa Seward catapulted the once-languishing Paris house to the Oscar arena three years ago, when nominee Diane Lane made a number of best-dressed lists. "Cameron's association gives us credibility among stylists, the American press, and key retailers like Barneys," Seward says. "Decades is just so respected. And the guys are so lovely to work with."